Naruto: From Novice to Grave

Higashino Makoto is not opposed to having to go to school again after being reborn; on the contrary, he is looking forward to it. After all, ninja school is a completely different thing from the school education in his previous life.

One focuses on teaching scientific knowledge, while the other focuses on teaching you how to kill people.

Early in the morning, after finishing his routine training and having a delicious breakfast, Higashino Makoto headed towards school.

The sun shines brightly, the flowers are smiling, and the little bird says, "Good morning, good morning, why aren't you carrying your schoolbag?"

Backpack? No way, his ninja tool pouch is enough, two on his lower back and one on his thigh.

It was filled with weapons such as kunai and shuriken.

This is the difference between ninja academy and studying in my previous life. Here, even if you carry a backpack, it will mostly contain large weapons that cannot be contained in a ninja tool bag, such as the Fuma shuriken.

Of course, there is one thing that is different from usual. At least now there is a knife bag containing two pens and a small notebook.

That's all, nothing more.

On the way, Higashino Makoto encountered Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao waiting at the crossroads, and the three of them traveled together.

For some reason, looking at the two of them, Higashino suddenly felt like he had walked to the county to attend junior high school with his childhood friend from the same village in his previous life.

It's unbelievable that something like this could happen again. Perhaps those guys from before would never have imagined that he could live in another world.

So life is truly amazing. As long as you're alive, you'll always encounter interesting things, especially in this magical world.

Upon arriving at the school, Hayate Gekko went to his second year, while Makoto Higashino and the other went directly to Class A of the first year, which, judging from the order, was a class for top students.

The ninja academy operates on a typical small class system, with 27 students in each class. If no one graduates early, they can be divided into 9 teams.

The lecture hall also had three rows of long, rectangular desks, with three students sitting behind each desk.

At this moment, more than half of the students in the class had arrived. Those who knew each other sat together, chatting enthusiastically, their faces full of excitement.

It's as if you attend class today, graduate tomorrow, and sit on the Hokage throne the day after.

Only Shisui sat alone in the middle seat on the right side by the outer window. It was hard to tell whether it was because the clan crest on his clothes had a Muggle-repelling effect or because of his precocious face that stood out from the others.

Even so, his captivating big, bright eyes were still very attractive, and several girls would occasionally glance at them.

When Higashino Makoto and Uzuki Yugao walked into the classroom, everyone turned to look at them. The boys looked somewhat resentful, because they, along with Shisui, were the three who had come in first place in the entrance exam.

The girls were much simpler; their eyes were all fixed on Higashino Makoto's face.

This just goes to show the advantage of resembling one's mother in appearance; to paraphrase Zhang Fei, "I am quite handsome!"

The little girl, Uzuki Yugao, glared back fiercely at everyone, just like a puppy whose food bowl had been stolen.

She is no longer the naive little girl she was two years ago; now, she has instinctively learned to guard her food.

Higashino was speechless. Sure enough, all the girls in the ninja world are like dumplings, starting to dip them in vinegar at such a young age?

"You're here pretty early."

Sitting down next to Shisui, Higashino Makoto took out his textbooks from under his desk and counted them while talking, eventually finding a small booklet among them.

"Since I had nothing else to do, I came early. So this is what you were looking for. Did you notice anything wrong with it, really?"

The booklet in Higashino's hand was the course schedule for this semester. He glanced at it and nodded, saying, "As expected, compared to before, the courses in humanities and mathematics have been greatly reduced, and the extra time has been given to training and practical courses."

"Seriously, why is that?" Uzuki Yugao asked, looking at her course manual.

Shisui thought for a moment and said, "Because of the war, the village doesn't know how long it will last. In order to cope with the possible unfavorable situation in the future, prioritizing the improvement of the students' combat power is the best choice."

Higashino Shinya agreed with this assessment: "That's right. We're at war now. Regardless of whether we'll be needed in the future, it's right to prioritize improving our combat capabilities."

"It's better to be prepared. This place is for training ninjas, not scholars. Basic knowledge isn't essential; we can fill in the gaps later if needed."

Uzuki Yugao: "Huh, is that how it is?"

"Of course, but those who are interested can study on their own. As long as it doesn't affect training, the school won't interfere." Higashino Makoto looked at the textbooks in front of him, which covered all subjects.

These were all distributed directly to the classrooms by the school, unlike in my previous life when I had to go and collect my own textbooks.

And it's all free; the ninja academy doesn't charge tuition either.

This is a place where ninjas are trained to fight for the village, roughly equivalent to a recruit training camp. Paying to go to school? Isn't that the same as paying to join the army? What kind of America-style behavior is this?

----------

Soon, after all the students had arrived, it was time for class to begin.

A young ninja wearing a green vest walked into the classroom and stood on the podium.

He looked to be in his early twenties, of medium height, wearing black-rimmed glasses, and somewhat handsome. His distinctive black hair stood up like a Saiyan, as if it possessed an indomitable spirit.

For a moment, Higashino Makoto seemed to see Nobita's son, and he was really afraid that if Nobita suddenly got angry, his hair would turn yellow, and then he would slap the poor Earth-kun into cosmic dust.

Fortunately, he was overthinking it. The young teacher wrote his name on the blackboard, looked at everyone and said, "Hello everyone, my name is Inoue Kuroiwa, and I will be your teacher from now on."

Now, please come up and introduce yourselves, including your ideals, hobbies, etc., so that everyone can get to know each other. Let's start with the students in the front row on the left.

Next, the students took turns going up on stage to introduce themselves.

Facing all their classmates, some were nervous, some were cheerful, some were shy, and some even wore sunglasses to look cool.

Then I heard him say that his surname was Aburame and his name was Aburame Muta. Oh, never mind. His true form is sunglasses. All the men in his family are sunglasses that have come to life.

As for their ideals, most of them aspire to become Hokage or protect the village.

After all, a Konoha ninja who doesn't aspire to become Hokage isn't a good student.

Not many girls aspire to become Hokage. They either want to become ninjas like Tsunade, or they want to open a cake or flower shop in the future. Some even say their ideal is to marry a gentle, handsome, and perfect husband.

Is this guy six years old? Did he get a steroid-fueled version of Gindra drug in his brain? And when you guys say he's gentle and handsome, can you please stop staring at me?

When it was Uzuki Yugao's turn, the little girl wasn't shy at all: "My name is Uzuki Yugao. I love admiring flowers, and my dream is to have a large garden where I can collect and plant all kinds of famous flowers from the ninja world."

Yes, Higashino Makoto saw it two years ago: when fishing, he had no patience for more than twenty minutes, and spent the rest of the day picking flowers in the forest, and incidentally picking a bunch of poisonous mushrooms.

If Gekko Hayate and Higashino Makoto hadn't learned about identifying edible plants in the wild beforehand, the four of them would have collapsed on the spot after eating.

When it was Higashino Makoto's turn, he looked at the students below, carefully memorized their appearances, and then calmly said, "My name is Higashino Makoto. I love training, and my ideal is to become a powerful ninja and protect my comrades."

Inoue Kuroiwa looked at the student with the highest entrance exam score: "Higashino-kun, don't you want to become Hokage?"

"Of course I want to, but, Inoue-sensei, we need to broaden our perspective. Does not becoming Hokage mean we can't protect our comrades? Protecting comrades should be a commitment regardless of rank; it's a responsibility every Konoha ninja should have."

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad. Higashino-kun has a deep understanding of the Will of Fire. Alright, go back to your seat, next one."

"My name is Uchiha Shisui. My hobby is eating grilled fish, especially with my friends. My ideal is that everyone in the village, regardless of where they come from, can understand each other and become good friends."

"That's a very good ideal, next one."

It wasn't until the self-introduction segment was over that Higashino Makoto realized the feeling of being spied on had disappeared; the Third Generation's crystal ball was truly useful.

The Ninja Academy is the foundation of the Hokage, an important place to spread the Will of Fire to the young members of ninja clans. As the gathering place for the top students who enrolled this year, how could Hiruzen Sarutobi not pay attention to Class A?

"Mutual understanding, still water, what a wonderful ideal."

"Seriously, you think it's okay too?"

"Of course, mutual understanding isn't difficult. For example, if a ninja who has been starving for several days sees a bag of bread in my hand and tries to snatch it, I understand his behavior because he's starving to death."

"So, will you give him the bread?"

"No, I'd kill him. Understanding doesn't mean agreeing. If I give him the bread, what will I eat?"

"Can't you go buy another bag?"

Even if he's precocious, he's still too young. Higashino looked at Shisui speechlessly: "Was I talking about the bread?"

Shisui: "Isn't that right?"

Uzuki Yugao: "What are you talking about? It's still early for lunch."

Makoto Higashino and Shisui Uchiha: "..."

Okay, let's just focus on the lesson.

----------

The first lesson was about the glorious history of Konoha, interspersed with explanations of the Will of Fire.

Sure enough, even if the time allotted for general knowledge lessons is reduced, an in-depth understanding of the Will of Fire is still essential. For a ninja village, the strength of the ninjas is secondary; loyalty is paramount.

Just like the materials that Higashino Makoto saw at home or in the library, the history of the founding of Konoha Village was heavily edited, many key events were omitted, the remaining events were simply described, and then there were long passages of profound interpretations of certain events using the Will of Fire.

There are ideas from the first and second generations, but the most prevalent are from the third generation.

But the problem is, when some events happen, the first and second generations have already passed away. Are they doing their reading comprehension in the Pure Land?

Where are the Uchiha clans? They are, after all, two of the founding clans of the village.